Bereaved families act as 'suicide watchmen'

This photo shows a statue of a man comforting a friend on Mapo Bridge in Seoul. The statue was erected by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to discourage suicides at the bridge. (Yoon Min-sik/The Korea Herald)

South Korean government on Tuesday held a commemoration of the state-designated Suicide Prevention Day, on which it commended welfare foundation employee Kim Dong-ho for his activities as a "suicide watchman" for over three years.

Kim, 31, was among the 67 individuals and 23 organizations who received certificates of appreciation from the Ministry of Health and Welfare for their contribution suicide prevention.

A fire safety manager for the South Jeolla branch of the Miral Welfare Foundation, Kim has been reporting suicide-related information that he found on media and online from January of 2021.

It was reported that Kim's own father had died by suicide, which motivated him to help reduce Korean society's high rate of suicide.

The incident traumatized him for years, he said leading him to lie about the cause of his father's passing for a while. But Kim said he should not turn away from the issue.

"Whenever I encountered news about suicide, I was reminded of my father. I felt guilty and thought I should no longer avoid the issue of suicide, so I started with the small things that I could do," he told local media.

He worked as a civilian panel for the ministry-affiliated Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention, during which he monitored online posts about suicides online and news stories and TV programs that violates the state guidelines on suicide depiction.

Kim said looking at suicide-related content was emotionally taxing, but it revamped his sense of duty to continue doing such work. He stressed that a system to ban suicide-inducing content should be established.

Local media outlets on Tuesday reported on another man who is working with the KFSP.

Jo Dong-yeon, whose father died in 2006, has been working as a volunteer worker for the state-run foundation to help bereaved families of suicide deaths. He said his personal experience of having to deal with the suicide of a family member pushed him to help others.

"At the time of my father's death, the concept of helping the bereaved families was not widespread, so I had to deal most of it alone," the 49-year-old man was quoted as saying. "I thought this was one job I would be good at."

He was commended by the Welfare Ministry in 2022 for his contributions, which include giving the bereaved families financial advice based on his experience.

Korea has designated Sept. 10 as an annual Suicide Prevention Day, and the seven days beginning on that day as Suicide Prevention Week, based on Article 16 of the Act on the Prevention of Suicide and the Creation of Culture of Respect for Life.

Sept. 10 is also World Suicide Prevention Day set by the World Health Organization and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

* If you’re thinking about self-harm or suicide, contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s helpline at 109, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please request a translator for English-language services.

This photo shows a statue a man comforting a friend in the middle of the Mapo Bridge over Han River in Seoul. The statue was erected by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to prevent suicides at the bridge. (Yoon Min-sik/The Korea Herald)

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)